Countless souls drifted through the cavern's air like vengeful spirits seeking to claim the lives of the intruders.
Their mouths gaped open as if letting out silent screams, yet no sound escaped their spectral forms—creating an extremely unsettling sight.
This was their voiceless howling!
While the sea of souls was horrifying, what drew Akira attention more was a shadowy figure deep within.
Similar to the earlier violin, it was a silhouette shrouded in eerie Death Aura.
Occasionally, strands of Death Aura drifted from its humanoid form and in its hands, it held a harp outlined by the same sinister energy.
Its fingers plucked the strings continuously, sending music laced with Death Aura toward the group—only for all of it to end up in Gengar stomach.
Now that its prey had finally arrived, the Dark Sonata's music grew even more intense.
A composition that had begun with an opening movement now reached its crescendo—the war drums commanding the souls to attack.
The shadowy figure fingers moved even faster across the harp.
Had the harp not been formed from Death Aura, its strings would have likely snapped by now. Despite the increased tempo, the music retained a peculiar rhythm.
As the melody abruptly shifted, Pyon and Satotz immediately heightened their vigilance to the max.
Such a drastic change made it impossible for them to believe nothing was happening.
As expected, the outcome aligned with their predictions.
After the high-pitched melody emerged, the countless souls in the sky abandoned their previous wandering state and a massive swarm charged straight toward the group!
The sheer number was overwhelming!
The entire cavern was densely packed with souls—something an ordinary person might never encounter in a lifetime, yet here they were, appearing as if mass-produced.
While remaining vigilant, Satotz instinctively broke into a cold sweat and couldn't help but glance toward Akira.
Truth to be told, dealing with these souls would be absolutely impossible with just the two of them.
The real protagonist here could only be Akira.
At this moment, Akira didn't find the situation particularly troublesome.
If he really wanted to resolve it, he could simply summon Marshadow to wipe them all out in one go.
But opportunities to encounter souls were rare, making this the perfect chance to experiment. He wanted to test whether non-Ghost-type moves could affect souls.
Moreover, Gengar had just reported that these souls could also provide experience points.
Coincidentally, both Gardevoir and Porygon-Z were just a bit short of reaching S-rank and both had a wide range of moves at their disposal.
With a thought, two figures materialized in front of Akira.
'Two Nen beasts?' Satotz watched curiously.
One of them he had seen before—the Nen beast capable of teleportation.
But what ability did the other possess?
This one had a bizarre appearance, as if its body were inverted, resembling an inflatable duck toy.
As Satotz pondered, Gardevoir and Porygon-Z had already launched their attacks.
Gardevoir's body radiated a dazzling glow as surges of Aura erupted from within.
Under precise control, each surge of energy morphed into a different move.
Suddenly, a multitude of attacks manifested before Gardevoir—each one bizarre and varied.
The only similarity was their terrifying power, capable of killing an ordinary person on contact.
There were emerald-green leaves, yet they shimmered with an otherworldly appereance, standing out starkly in the dim cavern.
Each leaf seemed guided by navigation, flying straight toward the souls above.
Grass-type move—Magical Leaf!
There was also a brilliant mass of flames, but unlike ordinary fire, it bore a magical hue.
The mesmerizing flames seemed more suited for admiration than destruction. The shifting colors within the blaze were intoxicating to behold.
Fire-type move—Mystical Fire!
Meanwhile, Porygon-Z Aura bubbled like boiling water and in that seething state, attacks instantly materialized before it.
One was an azure, pillar-like beam.
Wherever the beam passed, a bone-chilling cold lingered—any contact would freeze the target solid.
Ice-type move—Ice Beam!
Another was a crackling beam that roared like a thousand birds, its yellow lightning dancing wildly.
Electric-type move—Thunderbolt!
...
Beyond these moves, Gardevoir and Porygon-Z paused briefly before simultaneously unleashing Shadow Balls.
The earlier attacks had been tests—if they proved ineffective, the Shadow Balls would finish the job.
"He can actually use so many different abilities at the same time?" Satotz stared dumbfounded at the dazzling array of skills, the dim cave chamber now significantly illuminated by their glow.
It was his first time witnessing someone employ so many abilities simultaneously.
Based on Nen ability principles, these techniques should belong to the Transmutation category.
Yet even so, what Satotz had seen before were usually single-element transformations. Either converting Aura into fire properties or lightning properties—never had he seen someone who could transform it into any property at will.
Just within his field of vision, there were flames, leaves, electric shocks, freezing ice...
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
The massive horde of souls was instantly engulfed by wave after wave of attacks, the explosive aftermath kicking up clouds of dust throughout the cave.
The putrid stench mixed with thick smoke surged deeper into the cave, gradually enveloping the shadowy figure.
Akira raised an eyebrow, watching as the dust settled.
The results seemed reasonable.
Except for Ghost-type attacks, moves of other types were effective.
But very weak!
There was one exception: Dark-type moves.
Porygon-Z Dark Pulse had been remarkably effective earlier, its dark ripples instantly knocking out large swarms of souls.
This meant the souls had strong resistance to all types except Ghost and Dark.
If not for Gardevoir and Porygon-Z superior strength, attacks of other types would have barely dealt any damage.
Now that the experiment had yielded results, Akira saw no need to waste more time.
At his signal, Gardevoir and Porygon-Z immediately transformed into merciless artillery.
Shadow Balls and Dark Pulses launched one after another in a relentless assault against the souls.
The souls army's numbers visibly dwindled at an alarming rate. Each explosion wiped out clusters of souls like bursting bubbles.
Just as the group thought they could smoothly clear the obstacles, the shadowy figure stirred again.
Seemingly enraged by Gardevoir and Porygon-Z's actions, even the musical notes now carried palpable fury.
They say music conveys emotion—today proved it true.
The shadow's wrath permeated every note, flooding the entire battlefield and echoing through the cave chamber, lingering relentlessly.
"Throwing a tantrum now?" Satotz muttered to himself, sensing this musical shift wasn't so simple.
Last time the music changed, the souls attacked them.
So what did this new development signify?
"Hmm? A fusion, is it?" Akira suddenly looked upward, where countless souls were madly converging toward a central point.
Under the Dark Sonata control, souls large and small began morphing—melting into each other as if liquefied.
Like pieces of a giant robot combining, individual souls assembled together.
In moments, they formed a colossal entity.
The giant souls presence kept intensifying, an amalgamation of countless individual auras. Not only was its aura terrifying, but its appearance was equally horrifying.
Calling it a robot transformation would be giving it too much credit.
This was a stitched-together abomination, resembling the abomination from games.
Its head resembled some serpent's, its body a land dragon's, its limbs assembled from unknown creatures.
At first glance, it incorporated at least a dozen different species.
Leaving aside how much of its strength it could actually unleash, at the very least its imposing aura and appearance were quite terrifying.
But this wasn't the full extent of the giant soul's power.
Vast emerald light gathered before it, condensing from a tiny energy sphere into a massive beam in the blink of an eye.
"So it can even fire beams?" Akira grew even more intrigued by this soul.
He hadn't expected it to use beam attacks after fusion.
The form was straightforward—a beam forged from souls.
As the beam took shape, the giant soul's body shrank slightly.
No one would want to touch a beam made of condensed souls.
Who knew what kind of effect it would have?
A mere graze would probably annihilate one's soul.
These attacks were all aimed at the soul itself. No amount of physical training could resist them, and even Aura would likely offer little protection.
Aura was the breath of life, intrinsically tied to the body, making it ineffective against attacks that targeted the soul alone.
The eerie soul beam formed and fired in an instant, only to be intercepted midair by another attack.
A pitch-black wave, dark as the depths of the ocean at midnight, surged forward like ink.
This abyssal wave was darker than even Death Aura—it was the pinnacle of darkness!
Like a black hole, it voraciously devoured everything in its path. The soul beam shattered the moment it made contact.
The radiant emerald beam, dazzling like green glass, was slowly consumed by the black hole.
The massive soul beam vanished into the wave without so much as a ripple.
Dark-type move—Dark Pulse!
The undiminished Dark Pulse continued its assault.
When the giant soul was struck, it melted away like snow under the sun, rapidly dissolving into nothingness.
Within moments, the once-massive amalgamation of souls dissipated completely, vanishing like a bubble in the wind.
A horrifying figure now loomed before the group, radiating boundless darkness.
"ROAR!!!"
Hydreigon let out a deafening roar—its mere casual cry carried the force of the move Hyper Voice.
The thick dust ahead was instantly blown backward.
If the cave had once echoed with the melody of the Dark Sonata, now only Hydreigon's overwhelming presence remained.
It was the aura of a true Malice!
Anyone facing this oppressive energy would feel sheer terror, their will to fight crumbling instantly. Only endless dread remained!
The shadowy figure refused to give up, desperately playing its melody as the remaining souls attempted to repeat their earlier fusion.
Unfortunately, neither Hydreigon, Gardevoir, nor Porygon-Z had any intention of allowing it.
All three Pokemon attacked simultaneously, with Hydreigon's onslaught being the most devastating.
Every strike shattered countless souls into fragments, which then vanished into the air.
As the relentless slaughter continued, the number of souls dwindled rapidly, while the Pokemon's experience points soared.
These two performances of the Dark Sonata had granted them a substantial boost in
experience.Otherwise, facing so many formidable foes at once would have been nearly impossible—likely only achievable in the Dark Continent.
With two consecutive notification sounds, Gardevoir and Porygon-Z simultaneously advanced to S-rank!
Successfully leaping from A+ rank to S-rank!
At this point, he now possessed a total of seven Pokemon within the S-rank range!
Namely: Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Gengar, Dragonite, Lucario, Gardevoir, and Porygon-Z.
Of course, even this lineup wasn't enough to freely traverse the Dark Continent.
Back then, three S-rank powerhouses—Netero, Zigg, and Linne—had ventured into the Dark Continent together.
Yet in the end, they were forced to retreat after only preliminary exploration.
Over the years, the V5 Navigation Bureau had repeatedly attempted to explore the Dark Continent. Not only did they fail to gain anything, but they even brought calamities back with them.
The V5 Navigation Hall, as the department specifically targeting the Dark Continent, undoubtedly dispatched teams that included S-class experts.
Yet, the end result was almost always bitter defeat, with most teams unable to even return alive.
So far, he had only encountered two calamities.
The first was the Gas Lifeform "Ai" which had slumbered for an unknown length of time.
Back then, he had barely managed to defeat it by relying on Gengar's unique abilities.
The second was the botanical weapon—Brion—encountered in the Labyrinth city.
Although he had faced Brions there, it was only a small ancient labyrinth city.
In fact, compared to the real thing, it was so small it could only be called an ancient labyrinth "village."
The true ancient labyrinth cities standing on the Dark Continent were countless times larger than anything he had ever seen.
There, Brion would be far from rare!
Aside from these two, there were three other known 5 Threats.
The Hell's Bell Two-Tailed Snake, the Human-Keeping Beast Pap and the Immortal Disease Zobae.
And these were merely the five threats located near the Six Continents on the Dark Continent.
Venturing deeper into the Dark Continent would reveal countless, even more terrifying disasters!
Humanity lacked the capability to explore further—just these few calamities near the shore were enough to make them feel scared.
No one knew what kind of "hope" or how horrifying a "disaster" lay beyond.
The Dark Continent's reputation as a forbidden zone for humanity was not baseless—it was earned through repeated bloodshed.
There was no place for humans to live there; every additional second spent on that land was a tremendous risk.
It was common for someone to be lively one moment and headless the next.
This only made Don Freecss achievements all the more impressive.
To explore the Dark Continent alone for so long, even finding the energy to write travel logs—he had to be at least an SS-class powerhouse.
Akira greatest and only true, reliance was Marshadow.
That and the life-lock cheat after fusing with the Sturdy Shedinja!
These two were the real reasons he dared to explore the Dark Continent!
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